Is a 100 Crystal Energy Refresh worth it for FTP?
For farming gear, the short answer is no.
How did I come to this conclusion? Looking at drop rates for 4 different popular gear farms. We're looking at Stun Guns, Stun Cuffs, Holo Projector and Gold Balls. I'm going to break each one down as they each have different drop rates and value.
When purchasing energy refreshes, at 50 crystals you gain 120 energy which is 2.4 energy per crystal. At 100 crystals for a refresh that's 1.2 energy per crystal. So this is the baseline at which I used to see if it's worth refreshing or saving the crystals to just buy it outright from shipments.
Stun Cuffs
Attempts - 1187 • Gained - 216
Drop Rate - 18.2%
To gain 50 salvage you would need roughly 275 attempts or 2750 energy
Cost of Full Stun Cuff is 1400 crystals
Energy per crystal is 1.96 - Less than 50 crystal refresh but more than 100 crystal refresh.
Stun Guns
Attempts - 835 • Gained - 186
Drop Rate - 22.28%
To gain 50 salvage you would need roughly 224 attempts or 2240 energy
Cost of 50 Stun Gun Salvage is 1274 crystals
Energy per crystal is 1.76 - Less than 50 crystal refresh but more than 100 crystal refresh.
Holo Projector
Attempts - 799 • Gained - 200
Drop Rate - 25.03%
To gain 20 salvage you would need roughly 80 attempts or 800 energy
Cost of Full Holo Projector is 300 crystals
Energy per crystal is 2.67 - More than 50 crystal refresh and more than 100 crystal refresh.
Remember there can be some statistical variance for this so it may still be worth doing the 50 crystal refresh for this.
Gold Balls
Attempts - 133 • Gained - 22
Drop Rate - 16.54%
To gain 50 salvage you would need roughly 302 attempts or 3020 energy
Cost of Full Gold Ball is 750 crystals
Energy per crystal is 4.03 - Way more than 50 crystal refresh and 100 crystal refresh. This is a really small sample size because I quickly saw how awful the drop rate is, it was not worth farming. In order to break even, the drop rate would need to be 28-30%. The 750 crystals is a deal and should always just buy it from shipments unless you only have a few salvage to finish.
So in every instance, its always better to save the 100 crystals and use it elsewhere. Also, this looks at strictly farming gear, this does not account the value of credits gained and other minor gear included on each specific node. Most long time players are gear crunched and don't really need credits, so this information is "geared" for those players. This is also about 4 months of data collecting and at no point has the drop rates been nerfed or changed during this time, the drop rates stayed pretty steady from week to week.
P.S. I did get railed for 2/39 for stun cuffs today, dropped my drop rates 0.4%, which really means I'm due for a good farm day.
How did I come to this conclusion? Looking at drop rates for 4 different popular gear farms. We're looking at Stun Guns, Stun Cuffs, Holo Projector and Gold Balls. I'm going to break each one down as they each have different drop rates and value.
When purchasing energy refreshes, at 50 crystals you gain 120 energy which is 2.4 energy per crystal. At 100 crystals for a refresh that's 1.2 energy per crystal. So this is the baseline at which I used to see if it's worth refreshing or saving the crystals to just buy it outright from shipments.
Stun Cuffs
Attempts - 1187 • Gained - 216
Drop Rate - 18.2%
To gain 50 salvage you would need roughly 275 attempts or 2750 energy
Cost of Full Stun Cuff is 1400 crystals
Energy per crystal is 1.96 - Less than 50 crystal refresh but more than 100 crystal refresh.
Stun Guns
Attempts - 835 • Gained - 186
Drop Rate - 22.28%
To gain 50 salvage you would need roughly 224 attempts or 2240 energy
Cost of 50 Stun Gun Salvage is 1274 crystals
Energy per crystal is 1.76 - Less than 50 crystal refresh but more than 100 crystal refresh.
Holo Projector
Attempts - 799 • Gained - 200
Drop Rate - 25.03%
To gain 20 salvage you would need roughly 80 attempts or 800 energy
Cost of Full Holo Projector is 300 crystals
Energy per crystal is 2.67 - More than 50 crystal refresh and more than 100 crystal refresh.
Remember there can be some statistical variance for this so it may still be worth doing the 50 crystal refresh for this.
Gold Balls
Attempts - 133 • Gained - 22
Drop Rate - 16.54%
To gain 50 salvage you would need roughly 302 attempts or 3020 energy
Cost of Full Gold Ball is 750 crystals
Energy per crystal is 4.03 - Way more than 50 crystal refresh and 100 crystal refresh. This is a really small sample size because I quickly saw how awful the drop rate is, it was not worth farming. In order to break even, the drop rate would need to be 28-30%. The 750 crystals is a deal and should always just buy it from shipments unless you only have a few salvage to finish.
So in every instance, its always better to save the 100 crystals and use it elsewhere. Also, this looks at strictly farming gear, this does not account the value of credits gained and other minor gear included on each specific node. Most long time players are gear crunched and don't really need credits, so this information is "geared" for those players. This is also about 4 months of data collecting and at no point has the drop rates been nerfed or changed during this time, the drop rates stayed pretty steady from week to week.
P.S. I did get railed for 2/39 for stun cuffs today, dropped my drop rates 0.4%, which really means I'm due for a good farm day.
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Replies
That PS was a joke I assume? If so, well played!
Nice data compilation. Drop rates look similar to what I've experienced (don't have actual numbers though). And definetly, the gold components are always worth the buy at 750 crystals over farming
It is possible it could 20% across the board for 10 energy as my data is within 3% of margin of error. Even at 20% drop rates, the cost benefit of a 100 crystal refresh for gear farming is not efficient. I think with the hidden conversion of drop rates, most people don't realize the cost benefit of what they're spending crystals on.
With saving the crystals and coming in 1st each day, I can buy any gear I choose every 3 days. Well if the gear shows up
Lol have you even read the op? Stopped at the title obviously...
Fair enough, my apologies then. Just sounded like all you read was the title.
OP, I like your data about drop rates. I think your conclusions ignore the effect of free energy on your decision process. Add in daily free energy and assume you spend all energy on gear farming, you can acquire 615 daily energy at a cost of 100 crystals, or 6.15 energy/crystal. Purchase another 120 energy for 100 crystals, the ratio drops to 3.68 e/c.
I like to translate farming into crystal cost per gear. It simplifies the decision process for me.
Farming is always cheaper, but obviously takes much longer. (see pics below)
Hey please note, I'm only referring to regular energy for LS and DS battles. NOT cantina energy refreshes.
The reason to ignore free energy is that you get that regardless. You can buy gear and use your free daily energy on something else. It has no barring in terms of the value you gain by purchasing gear from shipments. I think of it when you buy gear, you're buying "energy" so you can use your free energy on something else. So the ratio of comparing energy gained from refreshes can be comparative to "energy" gained from buying gear.
That ignores that the free energy is irrelevant to the question of whether the value added of the 100 crystal refreshes is worthwhile. You can continue to use the free energy and the 50 crystal refresh to farm the gear. The added value of the 100 crystals is still not worth it -- you're better off farming and saving the excess crystals for buying.
Add the 100 crystal refresh and spend 80 on hard node for dailies
Haha, ditto.
No one says it is irrelevant, it simply doesn't make sense to include in the analysis.
it would take longer if you did 2x100 refreshes. ~20% droprate = 5 salvages per day = 10 days for a cuff instead of (1400/200 = ) 7 days.
I'm not trying to discourage people from refreshing, it's more of understanding what you get from your crystals. Using energy on hard nodes is a perfectly acceptable reason to refresh at 100 crystals as that value can be worth it to some people, such as trying to farm FOTP. But for gear farming, I would really say no, it's not worth it.
i'm not spending 100 crystals just to refresh. i can wait. the amount of time inbetween me playing is enough that i always have some energy except on the weekend.
What's less appealing is using that extra 200 crystals to get 240 energy a day for 7 days to gain an extra 1680 energy with a drop rate at 18.2% only to get 30-31 stun cuff salvage. Instead, save the crystals to buy it outright.